Their Legacy
by TheNightFury
Summary: Kanan wished he could take the pain his padawan was feeling away, all he could do though was hold Ezra as he crumpled in his arms. The journey to recovery would be difficult, but luckily Ezra had his new family to help him through it.


**A/N**

 **Hey guys so this is mostly a fic on Kanan's thoughts during that super emotional scene during legacy and a little of what might have happened later on.**

* * *

Kanan firmly believed that he should help Ezra however he can to save his parents. However, deep down, a part of him feared what they would find and how Ezra would react to the news. He knew the Empire was ruthless, especially to traitors. Seeing how much Ezra was suffering from _not_ knowing the truth though was even harder. Kanan desperately wished he had the answers Ezra craved, but no matter how long and hard he and Hera searched, they couldn't find anything until Ezra had a vision and Sabine found out about the prison break. And then they found Ryder and what Kanan hoped was the answers Ezra urgently needed.

"I can't believe you're here Ezra!" Ryder exclaimed. "I wanted to find you, but it seems you found me first!"

"I know you don't I?"

"You remember? You were pretty small back then." Ryder said, sounding surprised. _I didn't think he could get any smaller_ Kanan fondly thought. "I was the governor of Lothal I supported your parents and the messages they beamed out against the Empire. It's part of the reason I was accused of treason. I was sent to prison with them."

"I do remember," Ezra said, looking up. "Then you know what happened to them." For a moment Ezra looked so hopeful, but Kanan could see the pain in Ryders eyes when he admitted,

"Yes I do." It takes a moment for the words to process in Ezra's mind and Kanan could see him completely shatter as the unspoken words process in his mind.

"They're dead aren't they?" Ezra whispered his voice cracking. Though Kanan knew the answer to that question, he desperately hoped it wasn't true.

"I'm sorry son," Ryder said, looking downcast. "They are."

"Please tell me what happened," Ezra begged, tears pooling in his eyes. Kanan desperately wanted to reach out and comfort him but held back, just barely. Kanan glanced over at Chopper who somehow looked as heartbroken as Ezra looked. Kanan realized Ezra deserved to know how his parents died, but he also knew it would be incredibly painful for Ezra to hear and he wanted to spare him as much pain as possible.

"You know, even in prison your parents would stand up for those who couldn't, especially after they heard your message." Ezra's eyes widened in shock and even Kanan was amazed to hear this. Their message made it into prisons? "Yes that message. That message of rebellion you beamed out somehow made its way down into the deepest darkest imperial prisons. They were inspired by it Ezra and rallied others to rise up and break out. Dozens of rebel's sympathizers are free because of them."

"But they didn't make it…" Ezra said, sounding so broken again. He could feel the agony Ezra was feeling rolling off of him in waves through the force and desperately wished he could take the pain away. Ezra's pain reminded him all too much of his own pain when his master died. To this day it still hurt thinking about her death…

"No, they got separated in the escape. It was just like them to not leave until everyone got out first. But by then it was too late."

"H-how? How did they know it was me?" Ezra asked, his voice trembling.

"From your transmition, your voice." Ryder explained. "Your words son. Telling Lothal to stand up. They knew right away it was you."

"Y-you know, they used to say all the time when I was little" Ezra began, tears streaming down his face that he furiously whipped away "If we don't stand up who will?" Kanan placed a comforting hand on Ezra's shoulder, a reminder that he wasn't alone and that Kanan was right there if he needed. Ezra's body trembled under his hand with barely contained sobs. A weak sob escaped him as he wrapped his arms around Kanan, who instinctively hugged Ezra back as he crumbled in Kanan's arms. Chopper started awkwardly patting Ezra's legs with one of his arms as the reality of what was happening set in.

He had never seen Ezra break down like this, none of them had. Chopper wasn't the type to comfort or even showed he cared, but right now even he was trying to comfort Ezra. Ezra pulled himself even closer and hugged Kanan even tighter, _needing_ the comfort it brough. Kanan shut his eyes and started rubbing Ezra's back soothingly as he continued to sob into Kanan's chest, wishing he could do more to take the pain Ezra was feeling away.

* * *

The flight back to rendezvous with the rest of fleet was torture for Kanan. Throughout the flight he couldn't help but constantly glance back at his padawan who was curled up in his seat, knees drawn to his chest and trembling slightly. He knew his talk with Ezra back on Lothal wouldn't heal the pain Ezra was in, but a small naïve part of him had stupidly hoped so.

Ezra was more than just his student or even just his crewmember; he was like a son to him, and it was painful watching Ezra suffer through the loss of his parents. Though he didn't know exactly what it was like, if Ezra was feeling even a fraction of the pain Kanan felt when his master died Ezra would be in agony over his parents' death. He had hoped to spare his padawan this pain and suffering, but he couldn't. Ezra had been desperate to know the truth and how could Kanan deny him that? What if they had been alive? Kanan would never forgive himself if he had kept Ezra from finding his parents.

In the end though, they had been too late. If only Kanan and Hera had tried harder, worked faster, _anything_ , maybe they would have found where the Bridgers had been held before the breakout had happened and would have ensured they all escaped. There was no reason to dwell on the 'what ifs', but he could still feel waves of agony rolling off of Ezra through the force and found it was hard _not_ to think about the what ifs.

Thinking about Ezra's parents was quickly spiraling down the dark memories of his own past, what happened to his master, the Jedi order, if they had done things differently would more Jedi have survived Order 66? Would so many people have believed Palpatines lie about the Jedi betraying them if the Jedi hadn't been so secretive? Kanan forcibly sealed the painful thoughts out of his mind and focused back on his Padawan.

Losing his master had been the most painful time in his life. For years after that he had been alone and lost with no direction and no one to help him through it. He refused to let Ezra suffer alone like he had to. Ezra had a family that loved and supported him, he just didn't know how to show Ezra that.

When the Phantom reaches the rendezvous point, Kanan still hadn't come up with a good way to reach out to Ezra and help him and reluctantly the pair exit the Phantom with Ryder and are immediately greeted by the rest of the Ghost crew. Kanan can see in their eyes, they _know_ something went horribly wrong but are all too afraid to ask.

"…we were too late," Ezra heartbrokenly mumbled when no one said anything..

"I'm so sorry," Hera said, sounding just as heartbroken as Kanan knew Ezra felt.

"…they heard me," Ezra whispered. "My parents? They heard the transmition we sent out…"

"They did?" Sabine asked, amazed.

"Yea…they were inspired by it and convinced some other prisoners to break out…they refused to leave before everyone else got out b-but couldn't get out b-b-before it was too late" Erza stammered, tears pooling in his eyes once more. "I understand why they did it….but I-it hurts." Sniffling, Ezra whipped his eyes, trying to hide his tears as they streamed down his cheeks. Hera cautiously moved closer to Ezra and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. When he didn't pull away Hera pulled him into a tight hug.

"Sorry…" Ezra muttered.

"Don't be," Hera assured. "I know they would be so proud of you and everything you've done."

"I-I know," Ezra mumbled, "I-I just wish they were here…" Sabine walked over and joined the hug saying,

"Your parents might be gone, but you have us now. We're your family now."

"You just got to remember them and they'll always be right there with you," Zeb added, wrapping his arms around the three of them.

"Thanks guys," Ezra mumbled.

"We're family," Hera said like that was answer enough.

"We're missing someone though," Sabine said, glancing over at Kanan who smirked and rolled his eyes at the look. "Come on!"

"All right," Kanan laughed as he walked over and joined in on the group hug. Something cold pressed against Kanan's leg and he glanced down at Chopped who had joined in the hug as best he could. Ordinarily the droids presence would set Kanan on edge, but right now it warmed his heart a little seeing even the droid comforting a crew member who was in obvious distress. The Empire tried to break them, but Kanan knew together they could survive anything.

* * *

Though Ezra appreciated having so many people there for him, he was still a teenager and Kanan knew teenagers sometimes needed space. Considering all he'd been through today, Kanan was more than willing to give him all the space he needed. Even Zeb was willing to not go to their shared room for a few hours. Not long after Ezra left to get some alone time, Ryder came up to the rest of the crew asking,

"Is Ezra with you?"

"No, he's in his room," Hera said. "But I can go get him."

"No, no that won't be necessary," Ryder said. "I was actually hoping to speak to all of you without him."

"About what?" Sabine asked.

"You weren't their when Ezra's parents heard that transmition that was beamed out, but I was."

"So what does that have to do with us?" Zeb asked.

"During the eight years I spent in prison with the Bridgers, they were consumed with worry for their son, they didn't know if he was alive or dead or had anyone to look after him but after hearing his message, and realizing that their son was alive, that he found a _family_ to care for him and keep him on the right path they were filled with hope. Something I hadn't seen in far too long. I know that if they were here, they would want to thank you for caring for their son when they could not."

"We only recently took him in-" Kanan began but Ryder cut him off,

"He's safe, he's alive and he's _fighting_ , that's all his parents wanted."

"Well, I'm glad they at least knew he was safe," Kanan added.

"I believe knowing Ezra had people to care for him if they didn't survive was the reason they chose to break out," Ryder admitted. "For a long time they didn't really fight in the hope that maybe they would be released and be able to find their son so he could have a family again but they also knew if things went wrong he'd be taken care of still."

"I'm happy we could at least give them some peace of mind," Hera gently said.

"I'm glad you could as well," Ryder agreed. Though he was happy they were able to inadvertently bring the Bridgers some peace before they died, he didn't think he'd every fully forgive himself for failing to help Ezra bring his parents home.


End file.
